Can opener



sept. 23, 1947. K R, MCENURE 2,427,734

CAN OPENER Filed Jan. 25, 1947 Patented Sept. 23, 1947 CAN OPENERKenneth R. McEntire, Kansas City, Mo., assignor to John C. Hockery,Kansas City, Mo., trustee for Henry J. Talge and Foster L. TalgeApplication January 25, 1947, Serial No. 724,266

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in can openers and refers moreparticularly to an opener of the wall type supported on a bracketutilizing a feed gear and disk cutter for removing the top of the can.

Novelty in the device resides primarily in housing th'e actuatingmechanism within a single piece case and resiliently mounting the feedgear by spring loading the feed gear shaft and feed gear actuatingmechanism.

An object of the invention is to provide a single piece hollow housingopen at the bottom and in which the mechanism can be easily assembledand disassembled.

Another object is to provide a manually operated cam arm pivoted on thehousing and operable in conjunction with a compression spring to pivotth'e actuating lever and move the feed gear in and out of cuttingrelationship with the cutter disk.

A further object is to provide resilient mountings for the feed gearshaft to compensate for irregularities in the can and reduce rotativeeifort necessary to rotate the feed gear during the cutting operation.

Other and further objects will appear from the following description.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of the specification andare to be read in conjunction therewith, and in which like referencenumerals indicate like parts in the various views,

Fig. 1 is a top plan View of a can opener which embodies the invention,

Fig. 2 is a central sectional view,

Fig. 3 is a view taken along the line 3-3 in Fig. 2 in the direction ofthe arrows,

Fig. 4 is a view taken along the line 4- 4 in Fig. 2 in the direction ofthe arrows,

Fig. 5 is a view taken along the line 5-5 in Fig. 2 in the direction ofthe arrows.

Referring to the drawings and for convenience in describing the canopener, the end supported at the wall by a, bracket will be designatedas the rear end, and the opposite end, the forward end. At I0 is shown ahousing having a hollow interior. In the top is a single opening inwhich is pivoted at II cam arm I2. A bottom opening eX- tendingsubstantially the length of the housing is covered by a bottom plate I3.At the rear of the housing is a bracket member Illa adapted to fit a,pintle or pin carried by a wall bracket not shown. At the top of th'ehousing and near the front is a bearing sleeve I4 in which is rotatablymounted the shaft of the disk cutter I5. The

2 Y, cutter is removably mounted from the shaft by means of screw I6.

Forming a part of the bottom plate or cover I3, or mounted upon theplate as a separate assembly, is a bifurcated column or pillar I1 shownbest in Figs. 2 and 4. Strip fastening pins having a driving fit withthe pillar I'I and with the walls of th'e housing hold the bottom platerigidly in place in the housing. On a pin I9 carried by the bifurcatedpillar and located between pins I8 is pivoted an actuating lever 20. Therear end of this lever is held normally in a raised position, shown infull lines in Fig. 2, by a coil spring 2| held between a tooth or boss 2Ia formed beneath the actuating lever and a similar boss I3a on thebottom plate I3. At the front end of the actuating lever is attached adiecast bearing member 22 or the bearing may be formed by enlarging theend of the lever. This bearing member and the lever are drilled toreceive the feed gear shaft 23. The member 22 is also shaped to serve asa stop to limit the travel of the actuating lever. The curved upper edgeof the bearing abuts against a shoulder formed in portion Ib cast in theupper front portion of the housing. The portion IIJb also carries thebearing I 4 in which' the disk cutter shaft is mounted.

The feed gear shaft extends through the housing and at one end isthreaded to receive feed gear 24. Mounted on the opposite end of thefeed gear shaft is the operating handle '25 manually rotated during thecutting operation by handle knob 26. Between the handle and housing andsurrounding th'e feed gear shaft is a coil spring 21 abutting washer 28which lies next to the housing wall. The walls of the housing areslotted to permit passage of the feed gear shaft and free movement ofthe shaft with the raising and lowering of the actuating lever. n

The top edge of the rear portion of the actuating lever is a cam surface20a which is contacted by the lower end I2a of cam arm I2. Extendingfrom opposite sides of the housing walls and within the housing areguide ns Ille shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Thesens center the rear end of theactuating lever and cam arm.

Beneath the actuating lever is formed a hook shaped member 29 which maybe used as a bottle opener when the lever is in lowered position shownin dotted lines in Fig. 2.

To assemble the can opener, cam arm I2 is pivoted in the housing and thedisk cutter I5 mounted in its bearing I4. Coil spring 2l is placedbetween the bosses on the actuating lever and bottom plate and the leveris pivoted between the bifurcated portions of pillar I1. Bearing 22 hasbeen mounted at one end of the actuating lever prior to pivoting thelever on its support. The actuating lever assembly now mounted on thebottom plate is inserted into the bottom opening of the housing andfastening pins inserted. The ends of the bottom plate may be secured byScrews if desired. The feed gear shaft is then inserted through theslots in the housing wall, the feed gear 24 screwed to one end, and theoperating handle to the other after insertion of the washer 28 and coilspring 21. Fastening of the handle to the shaft is such that the handleis rigidly mounted thereon so that the handle, shaft and feed gearrotate together.

To open a can, the can rim or flange is inserted between the top edge ofthe feed gear and the annular shoulder I5a. formed in the cutter behindthe cutting edge. Cam arm I2 is now raised to the dotted line positionshown in Fig. 2 during which movement the lower portion 12a of the armengages the top edge 20a of actuating lever 20 and lowers it to thedotted line position against the force of coil spring 2|. Lowering ofthe rear end of the actuating lever raises the forward end upon whichthe feed gear shaft is mounted, causing the cutter .to pierce the top ofthe can. Rotation of handle 25 feeds the top outside edge of the can tothe cutter due to frictional engagement of the can flange with theserrated edge of the feed gear and the shoulder portion 15a of thecutter. During the cutting operation irregularities in the can or flangeare compensated for by the off-center spring loading of the drive gearor actuating lever. VAxial end play of the feed gear shaft is taken upby spring 21.

After the top of the can has been cut out, cam arm l2 is loweredpermitting the compression spring to raise the actuating lever and movethe feed gear away from the cutter. The can may then readily be removedfrom the cutting position. To limit the upward travel of the actuatinglever the bearing member 22 is shaped to engage as a stop abuttingmember Ib.

Thus it will be seen that there has been pro-- vided a can opener havinga one piece hollow housing enclosed on all sides with the exception ofthe small opening at the top and a larger bottom opening. The mechanismfor moving the feed gear in and out of cutting relationship with thecutter is mounted on a bottom plate insertable into the housing frombelow and rigidly affixed to the housing by two strip fastening or drivepins. The feed gear is raised by manual operation of the cam arm whichmoves the feed gear into cutting relationship with the cutter andpierces the can. During the piercing and cutting operations the feedgear is resiliently transported both vertically and axially.

From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention is one welladapted to attain all the ends and objects hereinabove set forthtogether With other advantages which are obvious and which are inherentto the structure.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are ofutility and may be ernployed without reference to other features andsubcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of theclaims.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the invention withoutdeparting from the scope thereof it is to be understood that all matterherein set forth or shown in the drawings is to be interpreted asillustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a can opener the combination with a hollow housing, of a diskcutter rotatable in a fixed bearing carried by the housing, a cam armwith a cam portion at one end and a handle at the other pivoted adjacentthe top of the housing said cam portion movable through an arc Withinthe housing and the handle through an arc outside the housing, anactuating lever pivoted intermediate its ends and enclosed within thehousing said lever having a cam surface at one end offering engagementwith the cam portion of the cam arm and a feed gear shaft bearing at theopposite end, an operating handle at one end of the feed gear shaft anda feed gear at the opposite end whereby functioning of the cam arm movesthe feed gear into proximity with the cutter thereby engaging` the camrim placed therebetween and piercing the top of the can while rotationof the operating handle advances the can rim along the cutter, cuttingout the top of the can.

2. A can opener as in claim 1 with a compression spring beneath theactuating lever adapted to urge said lever against the action of the camarm, said spring located rearwardly of the actuating lever pivot andbetween the pivot and camming surface.

3. In a can opener the combination with a hollow housing having a bottomopening, of a disk cutter rotatable in a fixed bearing carried by thehousing, a cam arm with a cam portion at one end and a handle at theother pivoted adjacent the top of the housing, said cam portion movablethrough an arc within the housing and the handle portion through an arcoutside the housing, a bottom plate insertable into the bottom openingof the housing, a support on said plate. an actuating lever pivotedwithin the housing and upon said support, a cam surface at one end ofthe lever offering engagement with the cam portion of the arm and a feedgear shaft bearing at the opposite end, an operating handle at one endof the feed gear shaft and a feed gear at the opposite end wherebyfunctioning of the cam arm moves the feed gear into proximity with thecutter thereby engaging the cam rim placed therebetween and piercing thetop of the can while rotation of the operating handle advances the canrim along the cutter to cut the top of the can.

KENNETH R. MCENTIRE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,889,119 Brocksmith Nov. 29,1932 2,152,887 Hosmer Apr. 4, 1939 2,158,319 Bloomfield May 16, 19392,258,583 Berkman et al Oct. 14, 1941 2,278,731 Olschewski Apr. 7, 19422,378,090 Landry June 12, 1945

